EDITORIAL – Reflections on World Malaria Day 2011

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How far have we come in the last four years?

Four years ago, it was estimated that a child died every 30 seconds from malaria, and that more than a million people each year were killed by this devastating and debilitating disease. Four years ago, the malaria advocacy partnership Roll Back Malaria organized the first World Malaria Day, and published the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP), which set comprehensive goals for the control of malaria world-wide, with the ultimate aim to eradicate malaria completely. [Read more…]

Malaria – Free Bednets?

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QUESTION:

Why do people have to pay for the bed nets?  I think that is mean to the people and they should get them for free.

ANSWER:

You have hit on a very important and on-going debate in the malaria control community. In many places around the world, organisations such as UNICEF have distributed free, insecticide-treated bednets, and especially to mothers—pregnant women and children under five are the groups most at risk from dying from malaria.

In 2010, UNICEF reported that together with its partners (WHO, the EU and the World Bank, to name a few) 5.5 million free bednets have been distributed in DR Congo alone. Similarly, in Mozambique, the Malaria Consortium has been working in a partnership with DFID and the public sector to distribute 400,000 bednets to pregnant women as part of an ante-natal service, again targeting some of the most at-risk people.

However, you are right to say that in some cases, people have to pay for bednets; in some of the poorest countries in the world, this can seem like an unjustifiable expense. However, there are some arguments in favor of having people buy their bednets.

For example, some people argue that a purely public donation initiative is unsustainable, and in order to have an on-going distribution campaign, the private sector has to be involved at some level, and this usually means charging a fee for each bednet. Moreover, forcing people to buy their own nets would free up donor funds for other purposes. Similarly, it is thought in some circles that having payment encourages suppliers to continue producing and selling nets. Finally, there are suggestions that purchasing a bednet increases their value to the recipient, who subsequently uses their net more frequently and more reliably in the manner in which it is intended (and not, for example, as a spare fishing net, as I’ve seen in parts of Uganda!).

I believe a study in Malawi showed that by asking people in urban areas, who have a bit more disposable income, to purchase full-price bednets, the program was able to generate sufficient funds to offer bednets at a highly subsidized cost in rural, poorer areas of the country; by asking people to purchase the nets, the program believed bednet usage among its recipients was higher overall, than if the nets had been given out for free.

I think the organization that tried this approach was called PSI (Population Services International)—they also offered nurses a small monetary incentive to sell bed nets (at the small sum of 50 cents each) to the rural women who attended pre-natal clinics, thus encouraging them to offer the nets widely to pregnant women.

As the final word, a study in Kenya recently showed that as costs for services such as bednets increased, demand for the service among the poorest sectors of the population declined sharply. Instead, it seemed most economical and efficient to target high-risk groups with free bednets, who are also incentivized to use the product properly and value the protection it confers, such as pregnant women in ante-natal settings, rather than doling them out to the community at large.

So we’re back to where I started with this response; the great job that many organizations out there are doing in distribution insecticide-treated bednets to the people who need it the most, and who can’t afford to buy them themselves, although it is worth bearing in mind that alternative models of bednet funding and distribution might prove equally beneficial and potentially more sustainable, at least in certain areas.

I’m also going to ask Hugo Gouvras to weigh in on this one—he works for Malaria No More, an organization that has recently launched an innovative mechanism for accelerating funding provision for bednet distribution to Africa. Hopefully he can update anything that I have said which is old news, and provide additional information!

Malaria No More Refutes New York Times “Mission Accomplished” Story

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On April 1, 2011, the New York Times ran a story entitled: “Mission Accomplished, Nonprofits Go Out of Business,” and prominently featured one of the leading anti-malaria groups, Malaria No More, as an example of an organization that was basically close to completing it’s mission of distributing bed nets to populations at risk of contracting malaria, and would likely shut down by 2015.

The Times wrote: “A few nonprofit groups have recently announced plans to wind down, not over financial problems but because their missions are nearly finished. Most notable, perhaps, is Malaria No More, a popular nonprofit that supplies bed nets in malaria zones. Its goal is to end deaths from malaria, a target it sees fast approaching. The charity has announced plans to close in 2015, but it is keeping its options open in the unlikely event that advances against malaria are reversed.”

The New York Times story features an image of Scott Case, vice chairman of Malaria No More, with a caption indicating the organization will close in 2015.

Just two days later on April 3, Malaria No More released a statement, reprinted in its entirety below,  refuting the Times story:

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Yesterday an article appeared in the New York Times, entitled “Mission Accomplished, Nonprofits Go Out of Business”. This article has caused significant concerns and confusion, both for Malaria No More and our partners.

The premise of the article—that mission-driven nonprofits work to reach their goals and consequently shut their doors—is a good one. By focusing tirelessly on the goal, organizations drive for sustainable change and progress. Yet premature declarations of victory risk putting both the progress and the goal in jeopardy.

  • Malaria No More has never claimed “mission accomplished” against malaria and realizes the dangerous implications of such language, especially at this critical moment in the malaria fight. This is not language we use or condone and were shocked to see it serving as the title of an article relating to our work.
  • A caption claimed that Malaria No More was closing its doors, implying that this was effective immediately. We are not—and we will not do so until we reach our goal of ending malaria deaths in Africa.
  • Malaria No More’s goal is to end malaria deaths in Africa. While we hope to accomplish that goal by 2015, we will only close our doors on the accomplishment of our mission. We have not announced plans to shut down on a specific calendar date. The article itself claims that Malaria No More has announced that it is closing in 2015. This is misleading. The purpose of the article was to demonstrate nonprofits that choose to close upon achievement of their mission.

The entire malaria community should be incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made. We look forward to the day when no one is dying from malaria—but we know that there is a lot of work to do until then.

Join the discussion in the Malaria.com Group: Bed Nets Discussion.

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Sources: NYTimes; Malaria No More

Hoolywood Bites Back Fundraiser to Fight Malaria

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Conan O’Brien, Elizabeth Banks, B.J. Novak, and David Arquette are among the many comedians, musicians and public figures performing stand-up, sketches and musical acts when some of today’s hottest stars from television, film and music will take the stage at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE on April 16th for Hollywood Bites Back!, a night of comedy to benefit the nonprofit Malaria No More.

“I am honored to have been asked to take part in this important event. I just hope that we can find a better cure for malaria than comedy,” said Conan O’Brien.

Hollywood Bites Back! is an extension of the Comedy Fights Malaria campaign, launched in October 2010, in which 25 celebrities including John Mayer, Orlando Bloom, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Helms, B.J. Novak, Josh Groban, Lake Bell, Ellie Kemper, Ted Danson, Jeremy Piven, and many others created comedy-driven viral and broadcast PSAs as a brand new approach to end an age-old health issue. The campaign also includes comedic digital shorts of Ed Helms, Nick Kroll, Paul Sheer, Riki Lindhome and Nastasha Leggero from their summer 2010 trip to Senegal with Malaria No More.

Although malaria was eradicated in the United States 60 years ago, many Americans do not know that this preventable and treatable disease continues to claim the lives of 781,000 people every year—most of them, children under the age of five in Africa.

“Malaria is no laughing matter, but we’re always looking for new and unexpected ways to shine a spotlight on the issue,” said Peter Chernin, Chairman and Co-Founder of Malaria No More. “We’re lucky to have some of the best in the comedy business come together for Hollywood Bites Back! in support of our efforts to ensure that no child dies of this preventable and treatable disease.”

Source: Malaria No More